Written Answers Nos. 243-262
243. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to upgrade the building and facilities of maternity hospitals and units as needed and to ensure single room occupancy for every woman having a baby. [25146/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
244. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to ensure that all women have universal access to anomaly scans. [25147/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
245. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to develop an integrated maternity system, including common record-keeping, to ensure a smooth transfer of data between services. [25148/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI assume that the Deputy is referring to the Maternity and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS). The Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS), which generates electronic health records (EHR) for newborn babies and their mothers, has now been implemented in Cork University Maternity Hospital, the maternity unit at University Hospital Kerry, The Rotunda Hospital and National Maternity Hospital, resulting in +40% of babies born in Ireland now having and electronic health record created at birth.
Approval has been provided for the deployment of the MN-CMS system to the two remaining large maternity sites in Ireland – the Coombe Women’s Hospital in Dublin and the maternity hospital at University Hospital Limerick and these sites are scheduled to go live in 2022 and 2023. This will result in 70% of babies born in Ireland having electronic health records at birth.
The planned capital expenditure by the HSE on MN-CMS in 2022 is €1,788,671.
In addition to planned technical and cybersecurity work, the HSE intend to migrate the MN-CMS platform for the current user cohort of maternity hospitals and maternity units to share a common remote hosting environment. Furthermore, an upgrade to the MN-CMS platform to the latest version is planned to improve efficiencies.
247. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to provide for universal follow-up post-natal appointments as needed with a general practitioner or consultant, including a specific six-week check with the mother. [25150/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
248. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to ensure that all women receive a package of post-natal supports, including ten free pelvic physiotherapy sessions within three months of giving birth, breastfeeding and mental health supports as needed and a minimum of three public health visits at home. [25151/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
249. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to ensure access for every woman to perinatal mental-health supports in every maternity hospital and unit. [25152/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
250. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to create a dedicated mental health support pathway for pregnancy, pregnancy loss and post-natal, including free-of-cost counselling services as appropriate. [25153/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
251. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to fully resource maternity bereavement teams for each maternity hospital and unit. [25154/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
252. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to establish a national expert working group to look at pre-term births to reduce neonatal mortality rates. [25155/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
253. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to ensure universal access to a perinatal genetics service for every woman. [25156/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
254. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to increase awareness of hypertensive disorders in pregnancy and to fund research to prevent cardiovascular disease in at risk groups later in life. [25157/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
255. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to recruit adequate numbers of obstetricians, midwives, general practitioners and practice nurses for women’s health, including gynaecological and obstetric care. [25158/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
256. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to resource the provision of high-quality, up-to-date education on menopause for general practitioners and menopause consultations in primary care. [25159/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
257. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to expand the number of specialist menopause clinics to meet demand for 2023-2028, and to ensure adequate regional coverage and staffing. [25160/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
258. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to ensure universal access to dedicated menopause counselling supports and screening for cardiovascular and osteoporosis risk factors. [25161/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
259. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to make HRT free for all and to ensure supply. [25162/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the General Medical Services and community drug schemes, and also for the administration of those schemes.
The HSE advise that while Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is used as a treatment for women’s health issues/menopause, there are also a wide range of other HRTs in place across multiple clinical areas, including the replacement of cortisone in Addison’s disease, and the replacement of thyroxine in thyroid disease, etc.
In addition, menopause can present differently for individual women, both in symptom severity and duration. Not all women experiencing menopause may be clinically eligible for HRT, which is prescription based. Women may also choose not to take HRT and to address their symptoms through alternative therapies and/or lifestyle changes.
In 2021, the provision of HRT under the the statutory schemes cost €5.4m. This cost was broken down between €3.9m under the General Medical Services (medical card) scheme and €1.5m under the Drug Payment Scheme.
The HSE do not have access to data on the expenditure of patients receiving products privately in community pharmacies or whose expenditure for medicines falls below the threshold of the Drug Payment Scheme. This prevents the HSE from giving a robust estimation of the costs of providing HRT free to all who may need it. However, the HSE have estimated that the cost to the state would likely be €8.2m per annum, at a minimum. This estimation does not take account of any associated loss of prescription charge income or any demographic changes that could impact on uptake.
The Government is aware of the supply issues that have arisen in the provision of HRT and is doing all it can to address these. When supply issues arise for individual medicines, different options, including alternative brands or generic medicines, should be made available to ensure continuity of treatment. Pharmacies should also ensure the equitable supply of medicines to their customers, within their available stock. If a patient has concerns, they should discuss their treatment and alternative options with their doctor, pharmacist or other healthcare professional.
260. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to update HSE information to act as a go-to source of trusted information on all menopause options. [25163/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
261. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to run an on-going national public awareness campaign about menopause and educating women on where to access trusted information and treatment. [25164/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by Department officials and a deferred reply will be submitted within ten working days.
262. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost to accelerate the roll-out of the National Cancer Strategy with a focus on supporting the earlier detection of cancers, treatment and post-treatment care. [25165/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe implementation of the National Cancer Strategy is a Programme for Government commitment and is part of the implementation of Sláintecare. We have seen significant progress on the implementation of the Strategy in recent years, with clear evidence-based policy direction from my Department and strong implementation by the HSE's National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP).
Funding of €20m new development funding was allocated for implementing the recommendations of the National Cancer Strategy in 2021. In addition, €10m was allocated for cancer screening services and €15m for new cancer drugs. As part of Budget 2022, a further €20m in new development funding has been allocated for implementation of the Strategy and €15m for new cancer drugs. This funding is being used to support ongoing initiatives and to drive improvements across all stages of the cancer continuum – facilitating further developments across prevention, diagnosis, treatment and patient supports.
